This Saturday, 50,000 immigrants and allies in 40 cities participated in the National Day for Immigrant Dignity and Respect. I attended the event in San Francisco and was so moved to see myself surrounded by not only Spanish speakers, but also Indonesian immigrants, Chinese students, and pods of men in yarmulkes and turbans dotting the crowd. Immigration is not only a Latin@ issue, and it’s not only an issue for immigrants. Everyone has a vested interest in creating an immigration system that works for our country and for the people who live in it.

In other immigration news, California is awesome (for now) when it comes to fair treatment of undocumented immigrants. Last Thursday, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. On Saturday, he signed the Trust Act, which limits cooperation between the state and Secure Communities, a program which allows immigration enforcement to access fingerprints and records of anyone who comes into contact with law enforcement agencies.

Why is this big? Because undocumented people in California may now drive cars legally, without fearing being stopped at any corner. They might also become safer drivers, as they will be required to pass the same driving tests as a citizen to obtain a license. It allows them to be mobile humans within our society. Also, within California, undocumented people may now reach out to the police for help without fearing that they might be deported. Victims of domestic abuse may find it slightly easier to escape harmful situations if they know their immigration status, not just their their emotional and physical safety, is not at risk.

Bay Area, California

Juliana is a writer, a speaker, and a consultant. Her blogging work focuses on feminist and racial justice movements lead by Latinas throughout the Americas, touching on issues such as environmental justice, immigration, colonization, land rights and indigenous movements. She has been a regular Contributor to Feministing since Spring of 2013, and also been published on the Huffington Post, Mic, and the Feminist Wire. Juliana studied Latin American and Latinx Studies at the University of California and is now based in the Bay Area where she has worked with various organizations on social media and communications strategy. In her free time, she likes to dance salsa and tango and practice Portuguese with her cousins via Skype.

Juliana is a Latina feminist writer and digital communications specialist living in California.

A federal judge ruled against the Obama administration’s current system of family detention late Friday, saying that it violated minimum requirements forconditions for children held in federal immigration custody, particularly provisions requiring that minors be placed in nonsecure facilities run by agencies licensed for child care.

That secure private prison complexes are inherently unable to be child-appropriate settings should really come as a surprise to no one.

The long overdue decision affirms what Cristina Parker at Grassroots Leadership points out thousands of immigration advocates across the country have been saying for over a year now: that existing federal requirements regarding the treatment of unaccompanied minorsapprehended at the border (which require such basic protections as a policy favoring quick release, proper physical care and maintenance, and legal services) also protect children caught with their parents. ...

A federal judge ruled against the Obama administration’s current system of family detention late Friday, saying that it violated minimum requirements forconditions for children held in federal immigration custody, particularly provisions requiring that minors be placed in nonsecure facilities ...

Even though it is 100% unconstitutional, a couple of Texas border counties have been systemically denying U.S. citizenship to children of undocumented immigrant women. A group of women have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services alleging discrimination and interference with federal immigration authority:

Jennifer Harbury, a lawyer with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, who is representing the women, said the deluge of birth certificate refusals began last winter. “I’ve never seen such a large number of women with this problem,” she says. “In the past someone might be turned away, but it was always resolved. This is something altogether new.”

Apparently local officials in Cameron and Hidalgo counties — both of which are ...

Even though it is 100% unconstitutional, a couple of Texas border counties have been systemically denying U.S. citizenship to children of undocumented immigrant women. A group of women have filed a civil rights lawsuit against ...

Drive south from San Antonio across the flat, derrick-studded, orange-dirt plains of South Texas, veer off Interstate 35 into the tiny fracking boomtown of Dilley, park in a gravel lot, get buzzed in, and you have arrived at the complex of trailers that comprise the South Texas Family Residential Center. This is the largest of three facilities where the U.S. government locks up immigrant women and children who are picked up — or request asylum — at the U.S.-Mexico border. ACLU lawyer Carl Takei describes the place as an internment camp. I’ve also heard it variously described as a “baby jail,” “worse than ...